Monday, December 4, 2017

The TOHO FIFTIES HORROR And SCI-FI MOVIES

Welp, heute wir haben eine look at the Toho fifties horror and sci-fi movies, as the title suggests. Man, what a pile of terror we have here, tons of fun for us kids. I never saw any of these at the theater, but, they were shown on TV starting in the late fifties... All the posters are the original Japanese releases.

We start with GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS from 1954! This movie is brutal, no comedy here. The part that really got me was the doctor and his oxygen destroyer and how he became a victim of his own device!!

There is also a flick called THE INVISIBLE MAN from 1954 but it's actually a drama with clowns, so, I did not included that one.

Then, we have GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN from 1955. In this one Godzilla awakes from his slumber after being packed in ice on an island and has to fight another giant monster, the mighty Ankylosaur that appears again in other Godzilla movies.

Also in 1955, Toho releases HALF HUMAN, a story about abominable snowmen on an island that are targeted for circus attractions! Unfortunately, the son of the monster is killed and things go south for the effing humans!

RODAN, one of my avatars, hit the big screen in 1956, what a wild flick! To me, one of the most shocking parts were those prehistoric insects and the creepy noises they made. Rodan and his egg laying mate were giant mutant Pterosaurs from inside a volcano!

Wow, THE MYSTERIANS form 1957 was amazing, all kinds of awesome futuristic hardware was used on both sides of the battle! Eegah!! and I saw this one on TV for the first time in 1960 when we were vacationing at my relatives house in the Valley Of The Moon in Northern California. Just love that giant robot to death!!

Talk about creepy, well, THE H-MAN from 1958 totally creeped me out the first time I saw it. When those poor sailors board the ghost ship and discover H-Men that dissolve humans into a mass of glowing atomic goo, like, yikes!!

VARAN THE UNBELIEVABLE also came out in 1958, back to black and white. Varan had the most spikes of any other giant monster at the time. Damn, I'd hate to have to ride him anywhere!! Stars good old Myron (THE UNEARTHLY) Healey.

Last on the list is BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE from 1959. Here, Japanese spacemen fight off invaders from space and end up on the Moon where they encounter a bunch of mini creatures!! So, there you go, the fifties Toho monster movies, join us agin on Wednesday for another neato installment from, The Dungeon!

I love "Battle in Outer Space," but never have figured out whether the producers made a scientific error or whether the translation is bad. The premise that freezing things to absolute zero causes them to have antigravity never has made any sense to me. *shrug* But I love the space battle sequences, and the scenes on the moon. Great movie.

I had never seen "The H Men" until TCM ran it a couple of years ago. My God, what a clever little horrifying film. Creepy and sad at the same time.

The second Godzilla movie was first shown in the US as GIGANTIS THE FIRE MONSTER. IIUC, there was some sort of glitch with the trademarked name "Godzilla." The problem must have been resolved though, because it has been shown on American TV as GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN.

The ankylosaur-type creature, Angilas aka Anguras, was also in DESTROY ALL MONSTERS. I think he was also in GODZILLA VS. GIGAN (US: GODZILLA ON MONSTER ISLAND), and GODZILLA VS. MECHA-GODZILLA (US: GODZILA VS. THE COSMIC MONSTER, aka GODZILLA VS. THE BIONIC MONSTER).

DWRAYGER DUNGEON PRESENTS: The Monster Movie Music Manifesto

Horror, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Spy, Super-Hero, JD, Thriller and Noir films, that's what we like, and a recurring theme in a lot of those kinds of movies has always been music! There were rockin' clubs and cafes with cool jukeboxes, teen poolside parties with local bands, sometimes it was a seedy bar with a sleazy torch singer, a beatnik coffeehouse, maybe dancing somewhere in outer space, or some weird tribal ceremony on a cool secluded island with giant monsters running around, and you could count on it that a lot of the time there was smoking and drinking going on. It was a fun time!! A lot of movies also had quirky, swingin', jazzy or rockin' themes or credits, or maybe just some wild Psychotronic elements! We started with the music from 50's & 60's Monster Movies, but we later morphed into the new, bigger and better, Rock and Soul, 70's brevity, 80's maybes, 1940's Gorilla and Bela site from Hell! So, sit down, and take a load off, pour yourself a cool one, and order up something hot and greasy, because we have a lot of tasty tidbits on the menu, way outside the realm of good taste! If any of the postings just happen to step on anybody's toes, let us know & we will remove them immediately, if not sooner!! We recognize all formal copyrights, and do this solely to support and promote the films featured! This forum is only being presented in a critical and scholarly critique, and should not be construed as anything else. It's just all for Fun & Historical Education in an effort to keep bad taste alive forever!!! If the words and pictures pique your interest, then please go out & buy, or rent the movies, wherever you can find them! All soundclips are approximately two minutes long, or just enough to give you a feel for the movie! When we post a sound clip, it will only stay up 30 days or less! These days, after getting hassled time and time again, we don't even do soundclips much anymore!!

Here are some good places to start your search for hard to find cult films on the internet:

TRASH PALACE!

CULT ACTION!!

When it comes to movies, the name of this site speaks for itself!

1980's CASSETTE CULTURE

Hear What You Missed The First Go Round!

BSC MUSIC

If you would like to hear more amazing music from composers like Peter Thomas and Martin Böttcher, then do yourself a favor and check out BSC Music! There Are Still Places In The World To Buy Cool Music!